Pregnancy can be a trying time for women at best, but new research shows that 1 in every 20 pregnant American women also suffer physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

Abuse can take a toll on the mental and physical health of the mom-to-be and her baby, because it's strongly linked to "delayed prenatal care, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]," the research team wrote.

A woman's risk of intentional death by firearm rises during and shortly after pregnancy, new research shows.

About 1 in 6 intentional firearm-related deaths in women of childbearing age occurred during pregnancy or within a year of childbirth, the study found.

Dr. Naima Joseph, of the Boston Medical Center...

Black women in the United States are six times more likely, on average, to be murdered than white women, a new study finds.

And that risk runs even higher when looking at specific states and time periods, researchers report Feb. 7 in The Lancet journal.

For example, Black women...

Becoming pregnant as a result of sexual violence is disturbingly common in the United States, a new study reveals.

Nearly 6 million U.S. women have become pregnant as a result of rape or sexual coercion, researchers reported recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

This equates t...

Imagine being subjected to domestic violence in your home, wanting to escape -- but there's no place you can go that will accept a beloved pet.

That's the gut-wrenching situation facing too many victims of domestic abuse, according to a new data review spanning 27 years.

"In a lot of cases of domestic violence, there is evidence to suggest that people will delay leaving their relati...

Many women and men begin new relationships never dreaming they could later be enmeshed in a cycle of intimate partner violence.

Now, a new study finds there are early behavioral warning signs from a partner that suggest the risk for violence is there. And the more signs a person sees in the partner, the higher the potential risk.

"These red flags could eventually be used in interven...

Teens who are abused by a romantic partner may suffer long-lasting repercussions, and this is especially true for girls, a new analysis finds.

Investigators who reviewed 38 studies concluded that teenage dating violence was linked to a higher risk for additional relationship violence in the teen years and even into adulthood.

These unhealthy relationships were also associated...

It's not high blood pressure, hemorrhage or sepsis that is more likely to kill pregnant women -- it's their husbands and boyfriends.

Homicide is a leading cause of death in pregnant women in the United States, and the risk is growing, researchers warned in a new study published Oct. 19 in the BMJ.

It's ...

Teachers play a critical role in the early detection and reporting of child abuse, according to a new study that found school closures during the height of the pandemic may have meant that up to 8,000 reports of endangered children were missed.

"Child maltreatment is a vex...

The toll of child abuse is wide-ranging and long-lasting. Researchers warn that childhood abuse is tied to high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes in adulthood, raising odds for heart disease and stroke.

In contrast, those who grew up in nurturing homes are less likely to have heart disease risk factors.

"Our findings demonstrate how the negative and positive experiences we have in chi...

Witnessing violence between your parents is traumatic when it happens, but a new study finds that trauma can raise your risk of depression and other mental health problems.

The study included more than 17,700 Canadian adults who took part in a national survey on mental health. Of those respondents, 326 sa...

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a surge in new gun owners across the U.S., a new study finds.

The data shows that between January 2020 and April 30 of this year, 5.1 million Americans bought their first guns, following 2.4 million who did so in 2019.

The numbers are concerning, experts said, because when guns are brought into a home for the first time, everyone who lives there i...

Poor neighborhoods of color bore the brunt of a surge in violent crime in U.S. cities early in the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.

"This study adds to the mounting body of research showing that equal opportunities -- including the opportunity to live, work, learn, play and worship free from...

Gun violence sky-rocketed by more than 30% across the United States during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Almost 39,000 injuries and deaths nationwide involved a gun in the year starting in February 2019 -- and that number shot up to more than 51,000 between March 2020 and March 2021, according to natio...

Physical abuse of school-aged kids tripled during the early months of the pandemic when widespread stay-at-home orders were in effect, a new study finds.

Exactly what triggered the surge is not fully understood, but other studies have also reported similar upticks in child abuse. A pediatrician who was not involved in the new research suspects COVID-19 and pandemic-related stresses create...

The rate at which homicide is taking the lives of Americans jumped by 30% over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic -- the largest year-to-year increase ever, new federal government figures show.

The rate jumped from 6 homicides per 100,000 people in 2019 to 7.8 per 100,000 in 2020, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center...

Child abuse and neglect can do significant and long-lasting damage, according to a six-decade review of British data.

The analysis of records dating to the late 1950s found that children who experienced physical or sexual abuse were more likely to die early as adults.

"Our work shows the long-lasting consequences that specific types of child abuse and neglect can have. The findings ...

Kids who suffer abuse, neglect or household dysfunction are more likely to have neurological problems like stroke or headaches as adults, researchers report.

"Traumatic events in childhood have been linked in previous studies to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, riskier health behaviors like smoking and drug use, and decreased life expectancy," said researcher Dr. Adys Mendizabal,...

Seeing a parent abuse a sibling can be as traumatizing as watching a parent hurt another parent, a new study finds.

And it can lead to depression, anxiety and anger, researchers say.

"When we hear about exposure to family violence, we usually think about someone being the victim of direct physical abuse or witnessing spousal assault," said researcher Corinna Tucker. She is a profess...

Living within a few blocks of a shooting increases the risk that a child will end up visiting the emergency department for mental health-related problems, researchers say.

The new study found significant increases in mental health-related ER visits in the two weeks after a neighborhood shooting, especially among kids who lived closest to it and those exposed to multiple shootings.

"...

Americans did more drinking at home during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, which researchers say may be linked to a rise in domestic violence and other problems.

"Our results appear to substantiate an increase in home drinking during the period, which could potentially lead to higher alcohol consumption and alcohol-related adverse health outcomes," said study first author Dr...